My Boston Marathon

This is a long post, but I wanted to document my marathon, my feelings and my thoughts. 

So I ran the Boston Marathon a week ago and it still seems surreal to me. I remember thinking about this marathon back in December and thinking it was so far away.. but it came and went and I am still alive with a stronger body, mind and testimony of the power of prayer. This marathon was by far my hardest and definitely kicked my trashed, but I feel like I came out on top more mentally and spiritually than physically. 

A month before the marathon, I got an injury in my high-hamstring area. It was a sharp pain near my sit-bone that left me hurting when I ran and walked. I was devastated! I felt like I had eased into my training really well and hadn't over done it. I was doing speed workouts and hill repeats and long runs with my running friend Lizzie. We were feeling good and doing so well with our training. Anyway, after my injury, I signed up for a gym membership and started cross training on the elliptical and doing spin classes. I felt good about cross training and was still getting a pretty good workout. 

Spencer and I started praying each night for my injury and that it would heal and he also gave me a blessing that I would be able to heal in time for my marathon. I know those prayers were heard and answered! 

I remember each week I would lay on my back and lift a leg one at a time and it would really hurt my injury but a week before my marathon I tried it and sure enough... I couldn't feel it anymore! It no longer hurt to walk and the week before my marathon while I was in Mexico I tried running a few miles on the treadmill and it didn't hurt! I was so excited to run and kept praying that I wouldn't feel it during the marathon. 

We got home from Mexico and the next day drove up to Boston. It was a busy couple days unpacking from vacation and packing again for my race. My mom was still with us and helped so much with Charley. We drove up to Boston and met up with Spencer's brother and wife, Alan and Rosa. We all went to the Expo together where I picked up my BIB number and saw my friend Lizzie! We exchanged "good lucks" and then went to dinner- PHO and FRIED RICE. A good carb dinner but not super heavy. 

The next morning I woke up around 6am and got dressed. Spencer and I drove to Alan and Rosa's house where we met Alan and then went to catch the subway from their house. We went to Boston Common where I would catch the bus up to the start. Since I am still nursing Charley, I pumped before I got on the bus, gave spencer the clothes I wanted after the race and my breast pump and then got on the bus. I sat by the coolest guy on the bus! He had ran 125 marathons!! I kid you not.. I wish I could have talked to him for hours! He was so dialed into his run.. he had goos, vitamins, salt packets, Advil and knew what time he was going to take everything! It was really cool to talk to him, get advice and learn from his experience. 

The bus took us up to Hopkinton where there is the Athlete's Village. It's pretty much this huge High-School field where the athletes hang out until their wave/corral is ready to begin. I got up there, stood in the bathroom line, grabbed a blanket to sit on, ate some granola, stood in the bathroom line again and then had to go to the start. I thought I would have to wait a longer time, but the time went by super fast and I was one of the last ones to my corral. I had just enough time to ask the guy next to me if I could use some of his vaseline to rub on my underarms, stretch out my legs and then we were off! The energy and excitement that you feel around so many runners is unreal and indescribable. I LOVE it! Everyone is so happy and energetic and full of endorphins. Runners have a really cool aura about them that gets you pumped to run. Especially here where there are 36,000 runners around you!

I started the race and was feeling really good! Surprisingly good! I kept at a 7:15 pace and around mile 4 this guy came up to me and said that we kept passing each other. His name was Derek and we talked for a bit and ended up running together until mile 11. He was my first ANGEL on the course. He is in the orange tank top in the picture above. He really helped me keep going and pushed me. He liked it because we kept a steady pace and said that I was pushing him too! Around mile 6, I saw my mom, Rosa and Charley. It was such a nice surprise! I needed to see them to give me some energy to keep going! I am so grateful they were there on the course to cheer me on! I stopped, gave them all a

hug and then went on my way.  

(ps. do you see all the runners around? this is how the course is all. the. way! there are so many runners you are never running by yourself)

Around mile 7 my legs started cramping really bad! I was so surprised and shocked that I was already cramping up! Usually that happens the last 4-5 miles around mile 21.. not mile 7. In my mind I was so sad and thinking.. "I still have 19 miles to go! This can't be happening!" I told Derek around mile 9 that he should go on ahead because I was starting to slow down, but he was super nice and said that we would run together and that "we got this!" We ran a few more miles together and my legs were getting worse and worse and cramping sooo bad! Like a HURT BAD cramp. Like it felt like a thousand beebees were being pelted into my legs. I have never felt that bad of a cramp before. Finally at mile 11 I stopped and told Derek to go on ahead without me! I needed to stretch out my legs and rub them out for a bit. I saw a spectator on the side of the road that looked big and burley so I walked over to him and asked him to rub my quads as hard as he could. He was my second ANGEL who graciously gave me a good rub down and sent me on my way. From mile 11 on, I basically walk/ran the rest of the race. Every mile or so I would have to stop and stretch out my quads, rub them while I ran, or ask someone to rub them for me. At one point I saw a bunch of college guys and knew they would be good and strong, so I went over to them and sat down on the road and said I needed to really strong guys! Two guys volunteered and I showed them what to do. They each took a leg and started rubbing my quads! It was so nice. A runner ran up next to me and started massaging my legs as well and then grabbed my hand and said, "ok let's go!" I was so discouraged at this point that I started crying and told him I was cramping so bad and had never cramped this bad before! He was my third ANGEL because he then ran with me for a while, stayed positive and told me I would get through this run. I really needed to hear that because no matter how many times I stopped to stretch my legs, or grabbed orange slices and bananas or drank gaterade for electrolytes, NOTHING was helping my cramping. I just had to run through it. The spectators are seriously amazing at this race! They are lining the course handing out orange slices, cold wet wipes, water, licorice, jelly beans.. you name it! They are cheering you on and so supportive. Its truly amazing and you feel so good about yourself and your race because the energy they give out.

Spencer and Alan were at mile 21. Spencer knew something was wrong when he saw my half marathon pace at 7:15 and it dropped a whole minute the next few miles to a 8:15. He said he was pretty excited when I was doing so well the first half of the race, but started to get worried when he would get text updates and knew I was slowing down quite a bit. By the time I reached them, I was walking, crying and in pain. I hugged Spencer for a long time and told him how badly my legs hurt and how they were so crampy and nothing was helping. He rubbed them out for a bit he gave me another hug and sent me on my way. I had 5 miles left and at that point I just wanted to finish and get my Boston medal! 

The last 5 miles were pretty painful, my knee was starting to flare up and hurt, my IT bands on both legs were shot and my quads were screaming for me to stop. I would run a half mile and then walk the rest of the mile. I did this till mile 24 and then told myself I was going to run the last 2 miles. I cried a little bit more, said a prayer and pushed through the excruciating pain my legs were in. 

Seeing the finish line was most amazing site I have seen in a long time! I was so happy to be done. I crossed the finish line and knew I couldn't sit down or stop walking or I would cramp up super bad. I knew Charley needed to be fed and wanted to see my family, so I walked another 1/2 mile to get the food/water/chocolate milk they provide and then met up with my family! Next to the finish line they were giving free massages so I went and got a massage and sat on the sidewalk and stretched for a long time. I looked at my phone and had 56 text messages! I felt so loved and that so many people were cheering for me. Thank you for your prayers and encouragement!! 

I was done! I was feeling it all over my body! Sure my time was my slowest marathon time. Yes I walked and have never walked a marathon before. Yes I have ran a marathon a whole HOUR faster a year ago.. but I still finished. Mentally I knew I had accomplished something great. I had pushed my body to a new limit. I had told myself I could do something and I did it. Above all, I knew that I was being looked after and from this I realized (again) that my God is a good God. He is a gracious and merciful God and he watches over us and no matter how small our task or want is.. he is there is help us and to carry us through. I realized the power of prayer and faith. And that we can all do hard things.

ps. cool article here

MEXICO!

Soooo my husband is pretty great! Actually really really awesome! He is such a hard worker and is very driven by his work (in a healthy way). He finds passion and fulfillment in providing for his family and pushes himself through work by setting personal goals and working toward them. I love his passion and drive! This last year he made President's Club at his work which pretty much means you are hitting your numbers and quota each quarter (which is super hard to do at AtTask.. they set their quotas high!). President's Club this year was at an all-inclusive resort near Playa Del Carmen, Mexico. It was the Iberostar Grand Paraiso Resort (rated #1 in the world for all-inclusive resorts). We had a blast having a week-long vacation to ourselves (no kids allowed at this resort so you didn't even hear kids crying, talking, yelling, etc.) It was so relaxing and amazing! We have some good friends that we have met through AtTask so it was fun to play with them and I think it was especially nice for Spencer to see his friends again since he doesn't see them everyday at the office anymore.

My mom came out to New York while we were gone and took care of Charley for the week. They both had so much fun and Charley grew to love her Gramma B! My mom said Charley was perfect the whole week and would wake up happy from her naps and hardly ever cried! Thank you mom for taking care of Charley! They went to the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens one day and my mom bought her books and wrote in them telling her of the time she came and stayed with her! So sweet!

Here are some pictures she sent while we were away. 

On a side note- when we got home and Charley saw us for the first time in a week, she started crying! It was actually really sad because on the plane home we were imaging how she would squeal and smile when she saw us! Well this was not the case.. she started to bawl her eyes out and didn't stop until we gave her back to my mom!:) So sad..

So back to Mexico..  I left a 4 page note for my mom about Charley's schedule, a fridge full of food and a freezer full of breast milk and we left for Mexico! 

 

Our first morning we ordered room service for breakfast. 

The rooms were always so pretty with flower pedals, chocolates and our clothes folded neatly back in our suitcase. 

 Our vacation was perfect because we had such a good mix of relaxing by the beach and also having fun doing some cool adventures. When we weren't relaxing at the beach or pool sipping on dirty monkey's (chocolate milk and banana smoothie) we golfed, went snorkeling, went to mayan ruins, swam in a cenote, went into Playa Del Carmen and ate some real authentic food and did a little shopping. 

My first time golfing! 

 Ah I just love the beach! 

Going to dinner one night. You had to dress pretty nice to go into some of the restaurants. 

Our pretty resort.

 One day we took a bus with quite a few people to the mayan ruins and did an LDS tour called Alma Tours. It was really cool and very interesting. I LOVE going to ruins and learning about people that used to live there and how they lived. I think it's fascinating. We went to two different ruins, the first was Tulum. When we started walking into the ruins at Tulum, Spencer said that the place looked familiar and asked if we had come here on our honeymoon cruise. I told him no way and that we weren't in that part of Mexico... but sure enough right when we walked in we recognized the ruins and we realized we came to Tulum on our honeymoon! So crazy! But still so neat and we learned a lot more this time since we had a tour guide. 

 Before going into sacred places, the people would put their hands on the stone. You can see their red hand-marks on the outside of the temple. 

 Can you see the baby holding onto his umbilical cord wrapped around him? 

Here we are in 2014...

 Here we are in 2011

 They used to play games with trying to get a homemade ball into the cement hoop. SO COOL! Sometimes the winner would be sent to the God's (die), and sometimes the loser would be sent to the God's... eee doesn't sound like a fun game to me! 

Next we went to Coba and got bikes to go around these ruins since they are 40 square miles. We biked to this cool ruin that has just about a million stairs that you get to climb up. It was pretty steep but fun to get to the top and see the whole valley around you. I tell you, those Mayans knew what they were doing. 

 To top off the day, we went to a cenote! It's this cool underground water hole that you can swim in. It's super clear and fresh water too. This cenote had some balconies that you could jump off into the water. It felt amazing after a HOT day in the sun. 

 Another day we went snorkeling at Akumal Bay and say turtles! So cool! 

 So my friend Ashley and I saw so many Europeans posing for pictures.. you know you have seen it- the no smile, awkward stance, sexy look.. well we tried our American best to bring this pose to the states.. try it out next time your at the beach, you won't regret it!:) 

One of the last days we were there, we went into Playa Del Carmen and did a little shopping and ate some real authentic Mexican food. The tacos were amazing!! We were also serenaded by these cool guys! 

 This horchata was HUGE!! 

 Oh Mexico you were too good to us! Let do it again soon!